Age discrimination can be a factor in job advertisements

Many people who are 40 and over continue to face a difficult time finding a new job in New Jersey despite prohibitions against age discrimination. One issue that has arisen when looking into why some older workers have a difficult time finding jobs has been the use of Facebook job ads specifically targeted to younger people. There are several lawsuits currently being pursued that challenge employers’ practices of seeking out young people as an audience for job advertisements.

A number of plaintiffs, represented by the Communications Workers of America labor union, are suing T-Mobile and Facebook among other companies. They are saying that by excluding older people from seeing their job ads, the companies are responsible for unlawful age discrimination. While the companies did not respond to journalistic requests, a Facebook executive publicly defended the advertisements. He said that when ads are tailored to reach certain audiences, this does not constitute age discrimination as long as a company’s entire recruitment campaign is inclusive.

Advocates for workers have said that recruitment campaigns can effectively exclude older workers by looking for candidates only among young people. For example, when jobs are recruited for exclusively on college campuses, workers who have been in the profession for longer are rarely considered. Another lawsuit is challenging whether it is legal to put an upper cap on the number of years of experience an employee can have in the job. Facebook has agreed to stop advertisers from limiting viewers based on race, nationality or sexual orientation, but not from gender or age limits.

Older workers can face a number of issues, from seeking new employment to being denied promotions and opportunities in their existing workplaces. A worker over 40 who has faced workplace discrimination for their age might work with an employment lawyer to challenge unlawful practices and seek justice.